Long overdue update. Might be a bit of a long one but here we go....
So after about 6 months of owning the car I decided it really needed some extra noise, there was only one way to go for me and that was the MPPSK. I found a dealer selling it for £1250 posted, got my dealer to fit it for about £200 I think it was. Lovely bit of kit, I know it's not cheap even with the discount but it looks well made.
I started the car up on collection and was greeted with a nice deep tone, it sounded much like sport mode did before but it was in comfort...... and didn't have the fake sound anymore either. I bumbled up the road before slipping it into sport mode, massive difference noticeable straight away! It become much much louder with seriously deep tone to it, low down the revs it really resonated through the car then as you move up through the revs it really opened up and sang. I was grinning ear to ear, it was perfect and gave the car the sound to go with the performance. Talking of performance it added a small boost in power too, the mid range felt stronger.
I managed to get it fitted just in time for my first trip to the 'ring in it so the following week I was off with my mate for my first proper road trip in it.
We got the train, the car was faultless the whole trip. Even with some brisk driving on the autobahns I arrived in Adenau with 1/4 of a tank left! Averaged just over 40mpg which is incredible IMO for the performance it offers. I arrived nice and chilled too, very comfortable mile muncher.
I was in two minds but I decided to do a lap, mainly for the photos tbh but it was a bit frosty at the time and I didn't plan on trying get round quickly. Photo looked good though!
A few months later I met up with some other F30 owners at Surrey Rolling Road. Met another guy with a 340i there, one of the only colours I like as much as mine, it looked great!
Put mine on for a run and the result was 388bhp
I was chuffed, nice power curve and the car was very healthy.
A few months a daily duties again then me and a mate packed ourselves off for another last minute trip to Germany again. He had a 480bhp Golf R, the pair of us had fun on the trip there, he obviosuly has the legs on me but it's no surprise.
I started doing a few longer runs about that time, needed to go into London a few times a week for a while, it really proved just how great the car is as an allrounder. I wafted round the M25, through traffic then into Croydon and the car was so relaxing to drive. The ZF box made light work of all the start stop issues and while I use google maps a fair bit the BMW system is pretty decent. Got a nice shot in the morning sun that shows how different the colour can look depending on the light.
For a while I was too busy with boring stuff to do anything with the car, then a few weeks back I decided to look at some wheels. There were a few options, the majority were aftermarket but I ended up finding a set of 437m wheels for a good price with decent tyres on them and decided to stick them on.
I decided instantly the car needed lowering so started looking at options for suspension. I almost went for some springs but felt I'd end up being irritated by not having any adjustability of the ride height so went for some Bilstein B14s.
While it was in the garage it was just about half way between the last service on the iDrive and the next one so I decided to get an oil and filter change. Those who are familiar with the B58 engines know there's been a few issues with oil filters breaking up as they're removed but mine come out as it should luckily.
I'm letting the suspension settle before I set the ride height exactly how I would like it but it'll maybe come down a touch more at the back. Ride and handling so far have been impressive, they're firm but not crashy at all, the car stays nice and composed over bumpy surfaces.
That's us about up to date. I have just booked another trip to Germany, hopefully I'll make it there and back with what's going on at the moment. I still have a good list of things I want to do to it too but I might wait a bit now for my wallet to recover.
